Back To The Future?
by Dalekbuster523
Summary: When the 'future' starts to fall apart, Marty must once again team up with his friend Doc Brown as they go on a journey to discover the cause of the damage to time. Could it be Biff Tannen again? Or is the answer not as simple as it first appears...?
1. Prelude

It was Christmas Eve in Hill Valley. Marty McFly sped through the vast crowd of shoppers looking for their last minute Christmas gifts, hoverboard hovering proudly beneath his feet.

His parents always complained about his carelessness. 'Marty will get himself killed one of these days if he doesn't watch it', they would often say.

They were wrong as far as he was concerned. Marty had done this countless times without experiencing any problems. Well, that was until now.

You see, one thing Marty had never anticipated was that a blue box would materialise out of nowhere.

"Crap!" He exclaimed as the collision with the box sent him flying from his hoverboard.

A skinny man with a large mop of hair opened the box's doors and took out a thin tube. A whirring sound filled the air and Marty found himself hovering in the sky.

"Can't have you falling to your death now, can I?" The man said. "I'm the Doctor. You must be Marty?"

Marty frowned.

"Yeah. How come you know my name?"

The Doctor was twirling fiercely, sending his tube pointing in a number of different directions.

"One day, we will meet. But I won't look like this. I'll look like a skeleton man with a tendency to cry a lot. And a smaller screwdriver. Not a euphemism by the way,"

"Sounds like Doc," Marty chuckled. "Almost…"

The Doctor frowned.

"Doc?"

"He's a friend of mine. You'd like him,"

"Doc Brown?"

Marty stared.

"How do you know him?"

The Doctor shot an annoyed look at Marty.

"Other people can know him too, you know. Why are humans so close-minded?"

This time it was Marty's turn to look annoyed.

"Sorry. It's just…Doc's never mentioned you. That's all,"

"We're both time travellers, Marty," The Doctor said, as though teaching a child the alphabet. "I've yet to meet him in your timeline, just like you haven't encountered me before tonight,"

"Man, I'd hate to be in the same room as you two," Marty murmured. "One Doc a time is enough. So, what brings you here tonight?"

"I've got a warning only you can take. I believe next year is 2015?" He asked.

Marty nodded.

"2015 is about to change. What was meant to come will be no more. Think of it like when you unwrap a present. Once a present is unwrapped, is it still a present? Actually, maybe that's a bad analogy," He explained.

"Cut to the point, Doc….tor. What's going to change?" Marty asked.

"Time will tell. Time always tells. Believe me, I should know. I saw a rogue Time Lord change human history so Piers Morgan became prime minister after Tony Blair. That was a frightening alternate timeline," The Doctor remarked.

The Doctor closed the blue box's doors.

"Hey! Wait. You need to get me down," Marty shouted as the box disappeared. "Oh crap, looks like I'm going to be here for the rest of my life. Merry Christmas, Marty…."


	2. Chapter 1: Shark bite

Across the vast desert landscape of a western town, a family walked towards a train track of which a black locomotive stood, the initials 'ELB' glaring from the side and front of the train proudly. As sand brushed behind their tired feet, the sun continued to shine on the glittered lettering of the train's initials. Never had it looked so clean before today. The family heaved a heavy sigh of relief when they finally reached the track.

This family were the Browns. They were a unusual family; the father was a inventor whose contraptions had caused numerous problems for the town residents, the mother his apprentice and their kids home-schooled by Doc on science which befuddled the locals in the western town. Now and then, they would disappear completely; most notably on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve 'to visit Marty'.

Today would be one of those days.

Doc climbed into the engine of the train.

"Okay, kids. Clara. Today, I'm going to take you somewhere that will blow your minds," He said excitedly. "Marty and I visited a few years back and it was certainly a very interesting time to visit."

Clara rolled her eyes.

"It's always somewhere you and Marty have been,"

Doc couldn't argue with that.

"Undoubtedly so but this year is too interesting to not be explored more than once. Plus, the kids will love it,"

"Why?" Asked Jules curiously.

"There's hoverboards, flying cars, holograms…you name it!" Doc said.

"Is Marty there?" Verne questioned.

Doc hesitated for a moment before replying to Verne's question.

"Yes, but that's beside the point!"

"I should have known…" Clara sighed. "Look, Marty is a good friend but we're your family. Why can't we do something that doesn't involve him for once?"

"Oh, but I'm not going there for Marty. I want to show you one of the most extraordinary years I've encountered," He said.

"If you say so," Clara said as she and her children boarded the train.

* * *

The Train landed outside the holomax cinema. The children clambered down from the carriage attached and winced as a cartoon shark lashed it's teeth towards them.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Doc said as he stepped down from the train. "It's just a holographic shark. I bought a family ticket for the morning showing of Jaws 19. A film I thought our boys may enjoy,"

It was sunny in 2015 too. Unbearably sunny. Jules and Verne both yawned in unison. This heat was making them tired.

"What rating is it?" Clara asked suspiciously. "I am not going to let you take our children to see a 18 rated film again,"

"I…well….erm…it's a 12, actually," Doc said, blushing.

Clara's eyes shot daggers at him.

"They're not 12 yet, Emmett!"

Doc glared back.

"They nearly are!"

Clara's anger boiled inside, until she just couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Well, don't blame me if the children have nightmares tonight, Doctor Emmett Brown!"

* * *

Jaws stalked it's latest prey; a young pretty woman with dashing blonde hair. Closer it grew, as the signature tune blared out of the cinema surround sound.

Closer.

Closer.

Until….

The shark faced the screen and leapt out into the audience, it's teeth threatening to gnaw the audience apart.

The cinema shook.

Doc frowned.

"Wow, this is a good special effect!' Jules exclaimed.

Doc shook his head.

"That's no special effect, Jules. We're experiencing a direct change in the current time period,"

Doc grabbed his kids' hands and turned to Clara.

"Come on, quick. Out of the cinema. The building could collapse any moment. Or worse: cease to exist!"

* * *

By the time the family were out of the cinema, the 2015 they had arrived in was no more.

No flying cars, no hoverboards and no holographic sharks. Instead were cars on the ground, skateboards and an IMAX 3D cinema.

This 2015 was not too dissimilar to 1985.

This 2015 was no longer the 'future' Doc was familiar with…


	3. Chapter 2: Skype still exists!

Marty was having a Skype conversation with a new friend he had made from Australia when his old friend Doc burst through his front door in a hurry and charged into Marty's living room.

"MARTY!" He bellowed, as he grabbed him roughly by the shoulders. "I need your help. Something's gone wrong with the time-space continuum!"

"Oh, hey Doc," Marty replied awkwardly. "Can this wait? I'm in the middle of a conversation with Bianca,"

Doc gazed at the widescreen TV situated on Marty's front wall. The screen was showing a woman (around the same age as Marty) clutching a glass of wine as she continued to talk about her life in Australia.

"At least this 2015 has got something right!"

Marty frowned.

"What do you mean 'this 2015'? What's going on, Doc?"

Doc stared wide-eyed at Marty.

"Don't you remember anything about our trip to 2015, Marty?" He spoke. "About the holographic shark? Or the hover boards? Or the self-tying shoes?"

"I remember our trip to 2015," Marty said. "But I sure as hell don't remember any of those things,"

Doc looked agitated. He paced the room scratching his neck as though he had an irresistible itch that just wouldn't go.

Marty was growing concerned.

"Doc? Are you alright?"

"I'm perfectly fine, Marty. It's 2015 that's not!"

* * *

Marty watched as Doc sat on the lush king-sized bed in his bedroom and browsed around the internet on his laptop. Doc had been determined to borrow it to find out 'what's changed' (whatever that meant); currently he was browsing Google for 'Jaws 19' with little luck.

"Time has corrected itself in other ways," Doc mumbled to himself. "So it's not Jaws 19 this time but a new Star Wars movie…"

The room wasn't the tidiest it had been. Magazines were strewn on the floor (mainly Jennifer's copies of Heat) and their (vile, in Marty's opinion) pink wallpaper was slowly but surely beginning to peel off. Mess never bothered Doc, though, thankfully. Although he wasn't so sure on his friend's current mental state.

Eventually, Doc handed Marty his laptop back and they headed back downstairs.

"I need your help, Marty," Doc said. "Something is seriously wrong with time and I plan to find out what,"

Something about Doc's words reminded Marty of something. Something that had happened. Or had it happened? Marty couldn't think what it was they reminded him of but there was something familiar somehow about the idea of 2015 being different.

Of 2015 being changed.

It was for this reason that Marty decided to agree to help Doc; he was intrigued by this strange familiarity and he intended to find out why he felt as though he'd heard it before.

Something was off. But was it time? Or could it be Doc? Or perhaps even Marty himself?


	4. Chapter 3: Losing your mind

When Doc returned to the holomax cinema with Marty, it was to find his family along with the train were no longer there.

"Are you sure you left the train here, Doc?" Marty said with a hint of uncertainty.

"Am I sure?" Repeated Doc. "Of course I'm sure. They must have been displaced out of time or faded out of existence or…"

Doc was interrupted by the arrival of his family, each clutching a ice cream (apart from Clara, who was carrying two).

"Or 'just gone to fetch a 'ice cream'," Clara finished for him as she handed Doc his ice cream.

"I see…" He mumbled back.

* * *

As Doc enjoyed his ice cream, Marty took Clara to one side and stared urgently into her eyes.

"Clara, is everything alright with Doc?"

Clara stared in confusion.

"Yes, of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

"I was just wondering if he may have, you know, lost his…" Said Marty nervously.

"His virginity?" Clara laughed. "He lost that a long time ago,"

Marty politely laughed.

"No, not that. Look, there's no easy way of putting this Clara but do you think Doc may have lost his mind?"

Clara frowned.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, you see…Doc's been…." Marty began awkwardly.

He glanced over at his friend Doc. He was happily watching Jules and Verne on a bench as they played a game of tag in front of the cinema, laughing and giggling as Jules was once again 'it'. Could he really make his friend's wife think he's gone mad?

Could he really do that to his friend?

But what if he has gone mad? What if Doc needs help?

Marty was afraid to admit it but perhaps the best thing they could do was face the truth and just accept he may have a problem?

He had no option but to tell Clara.

To tell Clara the truth.

"He believes 2015 has changed," He finished. "He thinks the 2015 he took me to all those years ago was different; something about holographic sharks and hoverboards,"

Clara looked stunned.

"And did you?"

Marty stalled. Did he?

"That's the thing. I'm not quite sure myself,"

"Oh, Marty. Are you alright?" She replied sympathetically.

"I'm….I'm not quite sure," Marty said in horror.

Clara stood still for a moment, quietly assessing what to do next. Finally, she spoke.

"I'm taking you both to see a psychiatrist. Come on, the train's parked round the corner,"

"What? No!" Marty panicked. "I don't need to see a psychiatrist!"

Although deep in the far corners of his mind, Marty believed he did.

Both he and Doc.


	5. Chapter 4: The Fridge Of Time

Doctor Grey looked up from the paperwork strewn on his desk as he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in," He grumbled.

His patients, a Doctor Emmett Brown (or 'Doc', as Marty seemed to refer to him as they walked in) and Mr Marty McFly entered. Grey indicated two office chairs stood opposite his desk.

"Nice office you've got here," Doc said. "Doctor Grey, I assume?"

Doctor Grey offered a hand.

"Yep. And you must be Emmett Brown?"

Doc nodded.

"And this is my friend Marty McFly,"

"McFly, eh?" Grey muttered. "I'm fed up of you lot. It seems everyone I see is a McFly,"

"Hey, leave my family out of this!" Marty shouted defensively.

"Marty, sit down. You're embarrassing us," Doc whispered.

Doctor Grey shuffled his papers and stuck them in a draw in his desk.

"It's alright. The McFlys are always like this,"

Doc sniffed. Somebody had sprayed air freshener in the office.

He didn't like it.

It always seemed to get in his lungs.

"So tell me, what do you do as a occupation Mr Brown?"

"I'm a inventor," Doc said proudly, clutching his lapels as if to further emphasise his point.

"Interesting…" Doctor Grey said. "And you, Marty?"

"I'm unemployed," Marty said sadly, as he thought about the career of music he could have once had.

"Hmm…" Grey muttered as he wrote ferociously in his notepad.

Doc coughed and made his way to the door.

"Well, I won't keep you any longer Doctor Grey. It is absolutely vital I find the contamination of the space-time continuum,"

Doctor Grey quizzed an eyebrow.

"Space-time continuum?"

"He…er….watches a lot of science fiction movies," Marty hurriedly replied.

"Like what?" Doctor Grey asked suspiciously,"

"Er…." Marty replied uncertainly. "The Time-Travelling Fridge Part 2,"

Both Doctor Grey and Doc stared at him disbelievingly. Marty could tell his bluffing hadn't worked.

"The Time-Travelling Fridge Part 2?!'" Doctor Grey remarked.

"Yeah…it's about a fridge….that time travels backwards whenever you accidentally buy something that's nearly out of date," Marty lied.

Doctor Grey stayed silent for a few seconds, then turned his gaze back towards Emmett.

"Emmett, sit down,"

Doc stayed stood.

"I said SIT DOWN,"

Doc still stay stood. Grey sighed and dragged Doc into his seat, before writing furiously into his notepad. All of a sudden Marty's eyes started to glaze over, as he watched memories he shouldn't have flood back into his mind.

"Doc, I'm remembering!" He suddenly exclaimed, grabbing his friend roughly by the shoulders in alert.

"GREAT SCOTT!" Doc roared. "This proves I'm not insane,"

"I'll decide that," Doctor Grey butted in.

Marty and Doc both stared at their psychiatrist in annoyance.

"What are you remembering?" Doc asked.

"There was a skinny man….with a box. Kinda like you, only younger…and skinnier. I was on some kind of hoverboard…and then I fell. Only I didn't because the skinny guy saved me," Marty said.

Doc stared. That wasn't quite what he expected.

"And our trip to the future?"

Marty shook his head.

"I don't remember any of the trip you described. Not yet,"

Doctor Grey coughed politely.

"Well, I've completed my diagnosis," He said. "Emmett, I fully recommend you go in a retirement home. You seem to be suffering from old age and misremembering. As for you, Marty, I think you may have a condition known as 'dementia'. I suggest you see a doctor immediately. And with that I bid you good day,"

Doc and Marty stared in horror.

"Dementia? I can't have that, Doc. I can't!"

"And I'm not going to a retirement home,"

Doctor Grey watched as his clients grabbed one another and screamed. He followed them as they left the room and closed the door behind them.

Only then did he replace the name plaque on the table with one that revealed his real name as John Tannen.


	6. Chapter 5: The Crack

The crack on the ceiling was very fascinating, thought Doc Brown as he sat in silence on the tattered old arm chair by the window sill. So long, so big and so….

"DOC!"

Doc quickly snapped out of his crack obsession and turned to see his friend Marty looking at him urgently.

"DOC, WE'VE GOT TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE!" He shouted aloud.

One of the other elderly residents of the retirement home, a man Doc knew as Mr Styn, glared at Marty intensely.

"OI! Stop with the noise, you yob!"

Marty didn't listen.

"What's the panic?" Doc asked suspiciously. "I was just thinking about the truly fascinating dimensional principles of a crack o-"

"The sign outside said 'Tannen Retirement Home'. I think Biff owns this place!" He replied.

As Doc gasped in horror at the news, an unpleasant odour entered the room as Biff appeared carrying a walking stick and, noticing Marty, scowled unpleasantly.

"What are you doing here, squirt?" He shouted threateningly.

Marty looked around frantically for a quick way of getting Doc out. By the door sat a wheelchair; a quick nod of the head indicated to his friend that that would be their method of escape and Doc swiftly walked over.

Biff watched as Marty wheeled Doc out of the room.

"AFTER THEM!" He cried and the elderly residents followed Biff out the door.

* * *

Initially, it was a relief to get away from the retirement home; that was until Marty glanced round to see the elderly people chasing after them. Led by Biff.

"HOLD ON, DOC!" Marty called as he spurted down the road with the wheelchair.

The wheelchair sped down at such speed that Doc nearly fell out twice within a space of minutes. But the retirement home crew were gaining on them fast.

"I didn't know elderly people could be so fast!" Marty exclaimed. "What's fuelling them? The Sound Of Music soundtrack?"

"The number of times I saw that on the TV were more than the times I've got my childrens' birthdays wrong!" Chuckled Doc.

Suddenly, Marty blacked out as he began to remember more…

* * *

Marty ducked as a holographic shark attempted to eat him.

* * *

A game of Wild Gunman proved to be a fun distraction for Marty from all the time-travelling currently present in his life.

* * *

"I've got a warning only you can take," The skinny man in the blue box warned as Marty hung silently in the sky.

* * *

As the flow of memories stopped, Marty found his sight return. But it wasn't a welcoming sight to return to. To Marty's horror, neither Doc or the wheelchair were anywhere to be seen.

And Biff and his army of elderly people were closing in on him.


	7. Chapter 6: Time travelling in style

The impact of the wheel chair on the blue box in front made Doc's head hurt. As if in response to Doc's throbbing head, an old man dressed in a magician's outfit opened the door and wheeled him inside.

Doc took a deep breath as he glanced at the vast interior in front of him. It was like some sort of…spaceship?

"Yeah, yeah. I know. It's bigger on the inside and all that," The man said. "I'm the Doctor, by the way and this is my time-space ship,"

"I'm Do-" Doc began but the Doctor gestured him to shut up.

"I already know who you are," He explained. "That's why I tracked you down to your current location. There's something I need to tell you,"

* * *

Doc gazed wide-eyed in amazement as he stared at the countless bookshelves which made up the library in front of him. It even had that _fresh smell_ of books and the tranquil atmosphere; all that was missing was the librarian telling everyone to shut up.

"Oh, come on. I think you've seen a library before," The Doctor snorted. "Are you going to act that befuddled to everything? I'm surprised your eyeballs haven't dropped out,"

"I just haven't seen a library this big before," Doc said in amazement.

The Doctor took a book off the nearest shelf and opened it. Six photos fell onto the desk in a muddled heap.

"So let me get this straight. You built a time machine…out of a police box?" Asked Doc.

Whilst beginning to spread the photos across the round mahogany table, the Doctor looked up at Doc and replied "Well, not-"

"At least I did it in some style," Doc interrupted.

"If you're going to ask questions, you're not going to interrupt me half-way through giving an answer," Came the Doctor's agitated response. "That's not how it works, okay? You ask the questions, I respond,"

The library fell quiet as the pair threw each other annoyed glances. Finally, the Doctor cleared his throat and spoke.

"This is what I wanted to show you,"

He indicated one of the photos. Doc stared.

It was Homer Simpson. In Hill Valley.

* * *

"Er….hello!" Marty said awkwardly as Biff Tannen gave a stern glare in his direction.

The elderly residents all followed Biff's lead and gave their own angry stares back. It was almost as though they'd been practicing. Marty felt like he'd destroyed the retirement home's only copy of an Elaine Page CD.

"Where's Doc, McFly?" Growled Biff through gritted teeth.

"I don't know. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," He replied coldly. "You were behind this change to the timeline, weren't you?"

"What?" Biff sounded surprised. "No, I thought that scientist freak had done somethin',"

* * *

Ringing. Just ringing.

No answer.

He can't even be bothered to answer the damn phone.

John sighed as he stood from the chair behind his desk and put on his coat. If his father wasn't going to respond to his calls, then he was going to go to him.

After all, the punishment chamber for Doc was ready. Ready to give him what he deserved….


	8. Chapter 7: Time Catch-Up

It had felt like someone had pressed pause on life for Marty. As though everything had just frozen as Biff had uttered those words.

"You think Doc would do this?" He asked, befuddled.

"Well, why not? The guy doesn't like me," Biff argued.

Marty felt the sudden need to defend his friend.

"He's trying to preserve time, not destroy it!"

Biff laughed.

"And what has that done to me? I should have my own casino. Instead, I own a retirement home. I don't know what this Doc fella's done but whatever it is he's done it purposefully to ruin my life,"

He had no idea what was going on but Marty was convinced Biff had been driven mad by his own greed. If anyone needed that psychiatrist's appointment, it was him.

Marty needed a distraction. It was time to use an old one...

"Look over there!" He called.

Biff and the other elderly fell for it. They weren't the brightest bunch. Marty hastily made his escape before they realised what had happened.

As he ran down the street, a familiar-looking police box was stood in front. Just like the one from the memory that came back...

* * *

The library clock was chiming. It was seven o clock in the evening and Doc was beginning to feel hungry. A cartoon father certainly wasn't the reason he had expected for the change in the year 2015.

He hadn't anticipated what happened next either. A familiar voice came from behind the library doors.

"Doc?"

It was...

"Marty!"

Doc opened the library door to find the Doctor with his best friend waiting. The Doctor scrunched his face in disgust as he watched them hug.

"Why do you humans do that?" He asked. "You're all touchy-feely. Why can't you simply just say 'Hello, how are you?' without resorting to a [i]hug[/i]?"

"We're good friends," Doc snapped.

"Who are you, anyway?" Asked Marty as he and Doc ceased their hugging.

The Doctor looked surprised at this question.

"I'm the Doctor. You've met me before,"

The eyes underneath Marty's eyelids darted up to the ceiling then back down again.

"No, I don't believe I have..."

Then the Doctor remembered something: of course, he was in a different body then.

"When you saw me, I was skinny and sort of looked like a human giraffe," He explained.

"That sounds like the guy who warned me about something..." Said Marty. "If only I could remember what he warned me about..."

The Doctor joined Doc and Marty as they sat at a table together and glanced at the picture.

Marty frowned.

"Why is there a picture of Homer Simpson on the table?"

"We think he's the reason-" The Doctor and Doc both started together. "Stop doing that. I was talking first. No you weren't, I was. See, you're doing it again. Let me speak,"

A laugh came from Marty.

"I want to hear it from Doc,"

Doc directed a 'I-won-that-time' smirk in the Doctor's direction.

"We believe he is the cause behind the change to time,"

* * *

The phone rang in John's office. He picked it up and answered the call.

"Yes...yes," He muttered. "What do you mean you lost Doc Brown? You were supposed to bring him to me! Where's this Marty kid now? You lost him too?! Forget it, Biff. You're no father of mine anymore!"

He slammed the phone down and left the room. If his father wasn't capable, he was going to do his job for him.

* * *

"I don't believe it. My own son...slammed the phone down on me!"

Biff's wife Martha watched as he stormed around his office in the retirement home; who did his son think he was? It was no way to treat a father.

"Listen...Martha...I know this will sound insane but I keep getting these glimpses in my mind...like they actually happened or somethin'..."

"What are they of, Biff?" Martha asked sweetly.

"Me. I have a sports alamanac and a Delorean," He spoke. "But not just any old Delorean, a time-travelling Delorean. It's that science freak Doc's. I use it to travel backwards in time to give the alamanac to my younger self. Somehow it ends with me owning a casino. I'm not entirely sure how. The time travel thing confuses me,"

In response, Martha squeezed Biff's arm gently and spoke in a soft, soothing manner.

"That sounds awful nice!"

"Doesn't it just?" Biff agreed. "And that Doc fella took it all away from me!"

Laying her head on his knee, she drooped her eyes up at him as he roughly stroked her hair.

"How do you know it was this Doc?" She asked.

Biff snorted.

"Who else do you know with a time machine? No, it has to be Doc,"

Climbing up from her knee position, Martha sighed.

"If you say so,"

He ignored her.

"I'm going out," He said before turning and walking out of the room.

* * *

Marty and Doc waved goodbye to the Doctor as they stepped out of the blue box and back into Hill Valley. It was now dark and the streets were devoid of people; no nightlife, as if everybody had decided simultaneously to retire to bed. The Doctor had insisted that they must solve the problem alone; something about not being able to interfere because he'd be crossing his own timeline.

Suddenly Doc doubled back as if in receipt of an electric shock; Marty gasped as he spotted something unusual happen to his friend's body.

"Doc! You're disappearing," He exclaimed in concern.

"It's the timeline, Marty! It's catching up with m-," Doc's voice tailored off as his body disappeared, leaving Marty alone.

"DOC!" Marty screamed. "NO, DON'T DO THIS TO ME DOC!"

Marty was sure Doc had gone – and this time, forever…


	9. Chapter 8: A reminder of the past

It was dusk, as Marty waited in the hope that Doc would reappear – or at least the Doctor. At least he would be able to help bring him back.

Half an hour later: still nothing.

Marty sighed and turned to walk in the direction of his home. However just as he began to walk away, he felt a hand gently touch his shoulder. Marty turned round.

A man roughly in his thirties stood, carrying a dirty brown sack as he eyed Marty curiously.

"You wouldn't happen to be a mister Marty McFly, would you?"

This seemed familiar.

"Er, yeah…" He said awkwardly.

The man passed him a letter.

"He said you'd be here. Strange fellow. Had that crazy Einstein hair,"

That's when all the memories began to flash before Marty's eyes.

Memories of a past time.

Memories of an alternate timeline to the one he was currently in.

Memories that he had lived.

These weren't glimpses anymore. These were a reminder that this twenty fifteen was a lie. And he had been warned about it before...

* * *

Marty awoke under a clinical white duvet; he tried to take in his surroundings. Next to him was a man whose leg was in a cast. To his right a woman attached to a life support machine; Marty was no expert but he was sure the infrequent beeping noises weren't a good sign for the poor girl...

A nurse was staring over him, as though waiting for Marty to respond.

"Wh-what happened?" Marty stammered.

"Relax. You had a slight heart attack, that's all," She spoke sweetly. "We've run all necessary tests and you appear to be in good health. You're free to go,"

Marty was about to leave the comfort of his bedspread, when suddenly he remembered –

"Hey, where's my letter?"

"The letter you were found with?" The nurse enquired.

Marty nodded.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It was delivered to the wrong person," She told him as she began to stroke his face. "He came to pick it up today,"

Before he realised what he was doing, Marty grabbed the nurse by her white uniform and pulled her threateningly towards him.

"What was his name?"

The nurse looked rather taken aback.

"H-he called himself John Darren. Weirdly dressed. Smart suit and tie, all black. I thought he was from the FBI,"

"He must be behind Doc's disappearance," He muttered to himself. "Thanks for your help!"

Marty dashed out of the door, as a bewildered look spread across the nurse's face.

* * *

Doc awoke floating in a strange dimensional void; he appeared to be in a state of half-existence, where everything was nothing and nothing was everything. The walls were white but then there were no walls, a white sky but no white sky, white ground but no white ground…

There was life in Doc but at the same time there was none. None of this existed but at the same time it had to exist in order for it to happen. Doc had often wondered what it would feel like to be written out of existence. He didn't think it would be as lonely as this.

"Hello? Is there anyone there?" He called.

"Marty?"

Nothing.

Then a voice spoke.

"Hello. My name is John Darren. I wish to recruit you,"

* * *

It wasn't long before Marty spotted a figure similar to who the nurse had described; he was causing a stir outside the court house, as spectators watched a number of figures give chase. The Simpsons, a spikey-haired man in a brown coat and his ginger-haired companion…and was that…?

"DOC!" Marty screamed from the top of his lungs.

The figure that looked like Doc turned and waved in Marty's direction. Marty ran over and squashed him in a long, bear-like hug.

"Man, I thought it was over that time!"

Doc gave a slight smile.

"It's never over, Marty. It can never be over. Our history has been engraved along time and will outlive us all in the end,"

He offered a hand to Marty as they continued their chase of John Darren. Marty took it and they ran together.

"Marty, there's something I have to tell you…"

Marty turned to face Doc.

"You can tell me anything, Doc,"

Doc shuffled nervously.

"You might not like this. I'm not sure if I like it myself. You see, when I disappeared I ended up in an endless void. The man we're chasing...John Darren...his voice appeared. He asked for my assistance; his plan could destroy the space-time continuum as we know it…"

It wasn't clear what Marty should be thinking. He was sure that Doc wouldn't agree to something with such a catastrophic impact but something about the way he was acting told him otherwise…

"You did say no, right Doc?"

He didn't respond, just stared into the distance as if contemplating something…but what?

TO BE CONTINUED IN THOSE WHO LIVE AGAIN.


End file.
